Friday, December 12, 2008

A few days ago, pedestrians were seen gingerly picking their way along the busy road linking Banjara Hills and Punjagutta, their noses wrinkled and trousers or saris hitched well over the ankles. The sewage overflow was like a stream in spate.

On receiving complaints, the local division sewerage staff of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) rushed to the spot. They were in for a really tough time.

Not being able to find any manhole around, they had no choice but to dig around at random to locate the leakage point.

When all their efforts failed, they sought the help of the Central Design Cell of the HMWS&SB. The cell swung into action and in no time at all identified the point, thanks to their pipe locator and the valve and manhole lid detectors.

The HMWS&SB acquired these latest equipment under the Computer-Aided Utility Mapping (CAUM) project of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Hyderabad is one of the six cities selected for the CAUM project, the others being Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. Under this, the board has received five pipe locators and two valve and manhole lid detectors, which help locate water and sewer lines deep underground.

Speaking to ENS, HMWS&SB officials said many manholes in the twin cities are difficult to lo- cate because of constant recarpeting of roads by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

While the height of the roads increases with each successive relaying, the manholes are not being raised to the corrsponding levels.

The lids are therefore concealed below the latest surface, making it very vexatious for the HMWS&SB in an emergency.

The latest equipment helps find magnetically sensitive objects made of steel and iron, and hence enables crew to trace valve boxes, manhole covers and well casings.

The equipment is powerful and enables detection at considerable depths.

Originally designed to locate water mains, pipes and manholes, they are also the perfect choice for work in congested areas and at depths where other metal detectors simply do not function.

And they do not need constant recalibrating, are built to last and have a clear audio signal and a clear audio tone.

Their strong, focused search field ensures accurate location of objects close to metal fencing and vehicles and the light weight makes for ease of use with a single control button.

Whenever there is leakage, a transmitter generates specific frequencies that enable the pipe to be located.